Print Making by Hand Workshop

I made a decision

to put a plan in place

to counteract the 

disequilibrium

of having my only child go away 

to college in the fall.

The first and only step 

I've come up with so far:

get your ass outta the house. 

In the spirit of doing just that

I joined two local Meetup groups.

The first is

 Philadelphia Blues Meetup

and the second is

South Jersey Mixed Media Artist Meetup.

My first venture outta the house

was a Print Making workshop

led by Dolores Poacelli.

We met at the Medford Arts Center, which is a spacious, comfortable place to spread out and make art!

Dolores is a patient, supportive,

talented, excited and most

important in my mind,

generous sharer of techniques and supplies.

 

She helped me think 

outside the box.

Priceless.

And shared a Master's work:

Attending the workshop was a great group of friendly talented artists! 

 Here is proof of talent:

 

 

 I know its not 

politically correct

to have a favorite 

but screw it 

it's my blog

and this print below

SLAYS ME.

good job outta you, Andrea.

 

Here are pics of 

my prints:

I thought I should 

keep it simple

so the night before I googled

stencil images of the lotus

to use as a guide.

 I brought my favorite

colors to print, 

turquoise and red.

I hated paying $21 for a brayer. I'll just have to make sure I use it a lot. 

I eyeballed the pics I brought

and we used all kinds of tools

to imprint our designs in soft foam. 

My foam:

 Really cool alert:

check out the tp roll covered in 

adhesive foam designs. When rolled on paper it looks like this:

About this time, after lunch,

I was feeling my new and unwelcome

menopausal information overload

combined with the wearing off

of pain meds.

I had to leave a little early but not after Generously Thanking

Dolores and Kathy, the teacher and organizer of the group. 

Thank you again, to the 

talented women in the group:

Angela, Andrea, Deb, Kathy,Joy or Lois confused on that,

and one other artist with beautiful long curly hair

that for the life of me I can't remember her name.

Damn menopause. 

I apologize and please comment me your name.

Oh, Deb has a show coming up!! 

Congratulations! 

June 2012 Exhibition

Deborah Pey

Palmyra Cove Nature Center

and Andrea has art for sale on etsy. Please visit her shop.

Dolores,when not in her studio, also teaches at the

Perkins Center for The Arts.

Please contact them for a listing of her classes. 

I give her an A++.

cuz it's my blog

and I can.

xoS

Etsy Question for my Bloggin Buds

Here is a question I 

posted on facebook

March 5.

I can't figure out how to link

to that particular post.

So go to my fb page and scroll

back to March 5. 

There are many practical

comments that just might

help you out with etsy as well.

I thank everyone who 

commented on fb.

If you are reading this blog

please friend me on fb if you

haven't done so already.

(Susan Rae Sager on fb)

I love to see the art you

are creating! 

So, back to my point. 

I received a comment on this question that has 

really really really 

made me think.

And I would love to 

get your opinion on it. 

The comment is from

Stewart Gill paints aka

Amazing paint that is 

pricey perfection.

teehee.

So here is the Question I posted: 

To all my art friends who sell on etsy: I need advice. I've been on etsy for 2 years and have made 2 sales. I understand the economy and that my art may not appeal to everyone. There must be things I can do to promote my shop. What advice can you give me. Is there a blog or book you recommend about how to jump start my shop. Should I close and reopen? do I need one of those long ugly names for each print "blue dragonfly painted print of original art" instead of "Dragonfly Print"? I do use tags etc. Here's a link to my shop. I would appreciate any input and constructive criticism. Bring it. I can take it!!! thanks in advance. 

And here is what 

Stewart Gill Scotland commented:

Hi susan, I wanted to encourage you to think about the core reasons why you make art in the first place....who are these people in the etsy netherworld that you hope will buy from you...do you really need the money from selling your work (and can you earn that money more efficiently doing other stuff) or are you translating 'sales' into 'artistic merit' - canyou get a sense of value and purpose from other ways (blog, the opinions of those you really trust)....how much time away from actally making REAL ART is it going to take to negotiate all the bizarre little online ways of raising your profile....and is that worth it???? WIll you look back in 5 years time and think i wish i'd spent more time getting tag lines and 'LIKES' or I wish I'd made more art, not felt so harrassed with the kids, housework etc etc etc!!!!! Sorry for ranting....it's just your question raises an eternal one that all us artists face - How do we know that what we are doing is meaningful? I wish you every success in finding the right path to truly enable your creativity to be at the forefront! xxx

I love this comment.

It has actually rocked my world

since I read it March 5.

I haven't figured out 

how I feel yet. 

What do you think?

I would love to hear

your thoughts!

xoS 

oh and here is a 

gratuitous hot guy pic

for hanging in there

with this wordy post:

You're welcome.

teehee.

xoS

Upcycling a 2004 Art Journal

I've joined an online 

Art journal group, 

Effy's Book Of Days.

It's completely free and

chockfull of cool techniques

and lots of glitter flinging by the 

workshop leader,

Effy Wild from 

Wild Precious Life.

There is also a 

supportive and generous  

face book group 

to participate with.

I've met many

very talented women

and am having a great time. 

For my Book of Days

I am recycling a 

Somerset Studio

Art Journal Calendar from 2004.

Below are pics of the 

front and back cover.

 

I'

Above, 

I've taped up the inside pages

to protect them from paint.

I gesso'd the hell out of 

both covers. 

Added some kind of thin fabricy 

stuff that a Christmas present was 

wrapped in a few years ago.

Yup. I save everything.

On top of the fabricy stuff

I used gesso with a palette knife 

to create texture.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do 

with it, 
I may try to make it look leathery

or like the surface of an old stone building.

 From the cover of the

original calendar

I only kept the word 

"TODAY"

which I covered with
Dimensional gel

and now has a cool

raised effect highlighting it.

Part of our practice in this 

journal is to pick 

a word for the Year.

I've been struggling mightyly

with choosing the right word.

I have been thinking 

for months about my 

focus for the upcoming year

and I keep coming back to

"use what I have"

and that phrase does not 

boil down to one word.

DAMN IT.

So, like all things,

I'm learning that the word

Mindfulness

pretty much covers 

everything.

If I am practicing mindfulness

I am using what I have!!

I probably have thousands

of rubber stamps

but I really 

don't use them anymore.

I came to a realization a

year or two ago that

I really don't want to use 

anyone else's art in my work.

Sooner or later I will start

organizing them and selling

them on etsy or ebay.

These 4 stamps are among

my favorites. 

"Be Still" is "still" 

one of my favorites.

On these tags I journalled

about the things

I am looking forward to in 2012.

On the back of Be Still 

I journalled about learning

more about Buddhism and

practicing Mindfulness.

On the Frida tag

I journaled about looking 

forward to making strong friendships

with women who create.

On the dragonfly tag I journaled

about the upcoming Milestones 

I am looking forward to this year

taking place in Sam's life.

Prom, choosing a college,

senior trip, and the continuation

of her independence.

And on the Venus tag,

I journaled about 

"using what I have".

 

Pan Pastels

 add the color to the tags.

I originally embellished a 

baseball pocket page 

with alcohol inks intending

to attach the page into the journal 

to hold the tags.

You will see that idea

never made it into my

Book of Days.

After I got a start on the book

the feel of the plastic 

is not organic enough with 

the pages I have so far.

 My next post will show 

pics of the progress I've made

on the first few spreads.

I deviated somewhat

from the instructions

but Effy encourages

and nurtures our individuality

in a funny, wise,and

completely stress free

environment.

Good times!!

Now tell me,

how have you started

this new year?

Have you picked a word 

to support your endeavors 

in personal 

and creative growth?

Or do you play it by ear?

Spill it, sisters.

xoS

Spray Paint is The Shit

I bought some AWESOME stencils on etsy.

The seller is Deidre Wicks and 

her shop is called

Stencil Me Brightly. 

egads, these are wonderful quality and 

I am hooked, hooked, hooked.

My favorite palette: 

red, white, turqoise, black. 

Sprayed on Acid free tissue paper. 

The tissue will no longer be sheer after spraying.

The spray paint is opaque. 

I thought I would have a "sheerer" result. 

I love what I got, tho.

Next time I will try acrylic sprays 

and see what happens. 

I am a newbie,

or spray virgin, if you will. 

So this is a learning experience for me. 

I had so much fun. 

I'm going to cover a canvas with this:

(and then add lots of embellishment) 

Sprayed some scrapbook paper:

The eye will be the center piece

for another collage.

Adhered torn pieces to a canvas:

Wrapping the collage around 

to the back of the canvas. 

Started doing that awhile ago.

Love the heart veins in her neck:

I have to get back to this painting or my parents will think I'm a procrastinator:

Yup, my muse just went off in a different direction.....had to listen!

Thank you, Diedre, for enabling my muse and making such a wonderful product! I have 3 more collages in the works!

xoS

P.S. Spray paint outside.

Wear a mask over your mouth 

and crappy clothes

cuz the wind blows the paint everywhere.

Also, wear big cheap sunglasses/goggles to protect your glasses/eyes. 

I got paint on my lenses and in my eyes.

Shame on me being an optician and what not. When the muse strikes 

I've been known not to wash or brush

until she leaves, 

but I usually have the sense to take

safety precautions!

Don't Mess With Mother Nature

New canvas. New Recipe. 

Ingredients:

ink jet images printed onto

Apollo transparency film,

 acid free tissue paper,

A bottle that sprays a fine mist 

filled with 70% isopropyl alcohol, 

acrylic paint, canvas,

collage images. 

Thoroughly spray the ink side of the image on the transparency sheet with the alcohol spray. Not dripping wet, just covered. Lay the image sprayed side down on the tissue. Lightly press image with a bone folder just to make sure image is in full contact with tissue. This step isn't even necessary every time, most of the time the tissue just sucks the ink right into it. Wait like 3 minutes, and pull up a corner to see if ink has transferred. If it has, pull off the transparency sheet. It should be clear. Below you can see how clear the sheet is when the transfer works perfectly.

Below is the 8x10 canvas collaged  with images from my stash and painted with Golden's heavy body paint. I thought it was too shiny, so I covered it with matt gel medium. Big mistake. Along the way I added glossy Soft gel medium and I liked it again!

Fooling around here with possible compositions.

And here is the finished collage:

"Mother Nature"

Prints available on my etsy site. 

Thanks for looking!

xoS